neutrality helps the oppressor never the victim

Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.

Sometimes we must interfere.

“When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.

Wherever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the center of the universe.”

——

Elie Wiesel

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With Elie Wiesel passing away I worry a little about the voice of morality and who will speak out.

In today’s world … where cynicism reigns … morality cannot be spoken by just anyone.

For while I believe I have a fairly stringent and narrow moral compass if I were to speak out … no one would listen.

It seems like the only way to overcome cynicism is to show experience and the scars that came from that experience. Almost as if the only way you can truly have a moral conscience is if you have faced extreme trial <this seems slightly crazy to me>.

And even then you may not be heard over the din of those who point out the minutiae of semi-imperfect morality within individual steps along the path.

Wiesel walked the narrow path of moral conviction of the few … with broad moralistic repercussions to many. He was a voice of morality. He spoke … and was heard.

It all makes me think of a number of things.

I believe it was a religious leader, speaking of God and Jesus Christ, who said something like … “The world narrows … and narrows … until all that is left is Jesus <or faith & hope>.”

I am not religious but the point remains true for any and all. The world narrows to a point where all you sometimes have is Hope. Some people embody that hope in Jesus Christ <or Allah or whatever higher being your religion centers on> and others, like myself, embody that hope in an overall faith in what is good & right.

Regardless.

The main truth is that the world does narrow.

Yeah.

Sometimes it seems big and infinite and overwhelming … but if you sift thru all the crap that Life throws at you … you will find an infinitesimally small and narrow gateway to make a choice on where to go next and what to do next.

And sometimes Life itself forces you thru the crap and delivers you at the narrow gate where it is up to you to reach out, grab the gate handle, open it and choose to walk through. It is up to you.

And you would think it is an easy choice … but it is often much more difficult than you would believe.

The narrow gate is hope, faith … and morality.

But you get squeezed so tight you have to leave ideological ideas behind, material things behind, political beliefs behind, personal desires behind … and all you have left is your moral core. What is right and what is the right thing to do.

This does not mean that the road itself is narrow.

I believe it is in the bible where Matthew 7:13-14 says: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

There is an easy path … and there is a hard path.

The easy path … someone called it ‘the highway to hell’ is broad with a shitload of fine looking rest stops with amazing looking gates along the way for a shitload of people to choose from and to stop at.

But that is just a version of a hell with all its bells & whistles.

The real path to life is fairly narrow with a lot less bells & whistles and a more difficult path to navigate and traverse.

Many can find the path … in fact all of us can.

Less choose to walk it.

And what is maybe even more difficult is that unlike the broad highway to hell rest stops … this narrow path has rest stops where … well … you cannot rest.

They are places where you interfere.

The places where you stop and choose a side to stand on.

The places when you see … human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy … and the places which national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.

The places which no longer can be viewed simply as ‘rest stops in Life’ but they become the actual center of the universe for moral consensus.

And maybe that is how we overcome the cynicism in today’s world with regard to being a voice for morality … the experiences we endure at each rest stop on our narrow path we choose to stop at.

In the end.

The world has endured a true loss with the passing of Wiesel and his voice.

Yet … he leaves behind the answer at exactly the same time.

The answer is basically one thing, which is a moral consensus that comes from a hope, which all of us have whether you are religious or not, that good is better than evil and doing the right thing is better than doing the wrong thing.

The answer resides in one belief … we must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere.